3323.25
Pilot project to provide early screening and intervention services for children with risk factors for dyslexia.

(A)
The
superintendent of public instruction shall establish a pilot project to provide
early screening and intervention services for children with risk factors for
dyslexia, including low phonemic awareness. The state superintendent shall
select three school districts to participate in the pilot project, one of which
shall be located in an urban setting, one of which shall be located in a
suburban setting, and one of which shall be located in a rural setting. Any
school district selected to participate in the pilot project may establish a
partnership with a regional library or library system for purposes of the pilot
project. To be considered for the pilot project, a school district shall submit
a proposal to the state superintendent that identifies a method of screening
children for low phonemic awareness and other risk factors for dyslexia,
provides for the enrollment of children identified as having risk factors for
dyslexia in a reading program staffed by teachers trained in multisensory
structured language programs, and includes a methodology for evaluating the
effects of the reading program on the children's identified risk factors. The
pilot project shall operate for three full school years, beginning with the
school year that begins at least three months after the effective date of this
section.

The
goal of the pilot project shall be to demonstrate and evaluate the
effectiveness of early reading assistance programs for children with risk
factors for dyslexia and to evaluate whether those programs can reduce future
special education costs.

The
state superintendent shall apply for private and other nonstate funds, and
shall use available state funds appropriated to the department of education for
the pilot project.

The
state superintendent shall establish guidelines and procedures for the pilot
project.

The
state superintendent shall consult with the international dyslexia association
or any other nationally recognized organization that specializes in
multisensory structured language programs for the treatment of dyslexia in
establishing and operating the pilot project.

(B)
Under the
pilot project, each participating school district, through early childhood
reading instruction and reading assistance programs, shall screen children six
years of age or younger for indications of dyslexia, provide appropriate
reading intervention services for those children suspected of having dyslexia,
and administer assessments, approved by the state superintendent, to ascertain
whether the intervention services improve those students' reading and learning.
When a child is suspected of having dyslexia, the district shall notify the
child's parent or guardian of that fact and that the child, as part of the
pilot project, is eligible to receive reading intervention services to measure
the effectiveness of early reading assistance programs. The district shall
require the parent or guardian to indicate in writing that the parent or
guardian voluntarily and knowingly consents to the child's participation in the
pilot project for the provision of reading intervention services. Each district
shall provide to the parents of children suspected of having dyslexia
information about the learning disability, recommended multisensory treatments,
and possible services under this chapter.

Each participating school district also shall report
annually to the state superintendent data about the operation and results of
the pilot project, as required by the superintendent in the manner prescribed
by the superintendent.

(C)
Not later
than the thirty-first day of December of the third school year in which the
pilot project is operating, the state superintendent shall submit a report to
the general assembly, in accordance with section
101.68 of the Revised Code,
containing the superintendent's evaluation of the results of the pilot project
and legislative recommendations whether to continue, expand, or make changes to
the pilot project.

(D)
As used in
this section, "dyslexia" means a specific learning disorder that is
neurological in origin and that is characterized by unexpected difficulties
with accurate or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding
abilities not consistent with the person's intelligence, motivation, and
sensory capabilities, which difficulties typically result from a deficit in the
phonological component of language.